Homemade Christmas Tree Cakes are the snack cakes from the holiday lunchbox, made in your own kitchen: two thin layers of soft vanilla cake around a fluffy marshmallow buttercream, dipped in a smooth white coating, then finished with green sprinkles and red stripes. They taste sweet, creamy and a little nostalgic, and they belong on a Christmas cookie tray, at a class party or beside a mug of cocoa.
How to make homemade Christmas tree cakes: Bake a thin vanilla cake at 350F for 10 to 12 minutes, sandwich it with marshmallow filling, freeze it, cut out trees, freeze them again, then dip them in melted candy melts and decorate.
Why You’ll Love It
- A thin, tender cake: it bakes in only 10 to 12 minutes in shallow pans.
- Marshmallow buttercream in every bite: butter, marshmallow fluff and confectioners’ sugar whip into a soft, creamy middle.
- Make-ahead friendly: the finished trees keep a week in the fridge or 2 months in the freezer.
- Fun to decorate: the sprinkles and red stripes are the part kids love to help with.
Ingredient Notes
Room-temperature butter, eggs and buttermilk. Take them out early. Soft butter beats with the sugar into a light, fluffy base, and room-temperature eggs and buttermilk blend in smoothly instead of curdling the batter.
Marshmallow fluff. It gives the filling its light, sticky, marshmallow taste. Beat it with the butter until no lumps of butter are left before you add the sugar.
White candy melts and coconut oil. The coconut oil thins the melted coating so it runs smoothly over each tree and sets in a thin shell. White chocolate or almond bark works too; use 24 ounces with 4 tablespoons of coconut oil or a neutral oil.
Green sugar sprinkles. Coarse green sugar gives the classic sparkly tree look. You only need about 1 tablespoon for the whole batch.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (for the cake)
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla (for the cake)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (for the filling)
- 1 cup marshmallow fluff
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar (for the filling)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (for the filling)
- 2 1/2 cups white candy melts
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar (for the red drizzle)
- 1-2 teaspoons water, more if needed
- 1-2 drops red food dye
- 1 tablespoon green sugar sprinkles
How to Make Homemade Christmas Tree Cakes
1. Heat the oven. Heat the oven to 350F. Line two quarter sheet pans with parchment and grease them lightly with nonstick spray. One half sheet pan works too.
2. Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl.
3. Cream the butter and sugar. Beat the 1/2 cup butter and the sugar with an electric mixer for 3 to 5 minutes, until the mixture is pale, light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.
4. Add the buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk in turns, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix only until combined, then finish by hand with a spatula so you do not overmix.
5. Bake thin. Spread the batter evenly in the pans with an offset spatula. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the cake no longer jiggles and is just golden at the edges. Cool 5 minutes in the pans, turn the cakes out onto parchment and let them cool completely. If you baked one half sheet, cut it in half the short way so you have two equal layers.
6. Make the filling. Beat the 1 cup butter with the marshmallow fluff until no lumps of butter remain, scraping the bowl as you go. Slowly beat in the 3 cups confectioners’ sugar until smooth, then the vanilla extract.
7. Sandwich and chill. Set one cake layer on a parchment-lined sheet, spread the filling evenly over it and lay the second layer on top. Freeze at least 1 hour.
8. Cut the trees and chill again. Cut out trees with a tree cookie cutter; you should get about 8. Set them back on the lined sheet and freeze at least 2 more hours.
9. Make the red drizzle. Stir the 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, the water and the red food dye until smooth, then spoon it into a piping bag.
10. Melt the coating. Melt the candy melts with the coconut oil in 30-second bursts, stirring between each one, until completely smooth.
11. Dip and decorate. Dip one tree at a time, lifting it with two forks and letting the extra coating drip off, then set it on parchment. After 30 to 45 seconds, while the coating is still soft, scatter on the green sprinkles. Pipe red stripes across each tree.
Why Tree Cakes Fall Apart and How to Stop It
A soft cake with a buttercream middle wants to slide apart the moment it hits warm coating. The fix is cold: freeze the filled cake for at least 1 hour so it cuts cleanly, then freeze the cut trees for at least 2 more hours. A frozen tree goes into the coating and comes out whole, with neat edges and the filling still in the middle.
The thin cake helps too. Baking the batter in two quarter sheet pans gives two shallow layers, so each tree is a slim sandwich that holds its shape on the fork. Keep the coating smooth and runny with the coconut oil, and if it starts to thicken while you work, set the bowl over warm water so it stays easy to dip.
| Stage | Time | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Bake | 10 to 12 minutes at 350F | Thin, tender layers |
| First freeze | At least 1 hour | Clean cuts with the cutter |
| Second freeze | At least 2 hours | Trees stay whole in the coating |
| Sprinkles | Within 30 to 45 seconds of dipping | They stick before the coating sets |
Tips for Success
Why won’t my sprinkles stick?
The coating sets fast, and once it does, sprinkles bounce right off. Work one tree at a time and add the green sugar within 30 to 45 seconds of dipping.
Why is my coating thick and lumpy?
Candy melts thicken as they cool or if they get too hot in the microwave. Melt them in short 30-second bursts, stir well each time, and keep the bowl warm over warm water while you dip.
What do I do with the cake scraps?
Cutting trees leaves pieces around the edges. Eat them as a baker’s snack, or mash them with a mixer into a cake pop mixture.
Variations
- One-pan version: bake one thicker cake in an 18×13-inch pan for 35 to 40 minutes, chill it, cut out trees, then slice each tree in half sideways and pipe the marshmallow filling between the halves. This makes about 20 trees.
- Red stripes from the filling: tint about 1/4 cup of the marshmallow filling red and pipe it on top instead of making the sugar drizzle.
If you enjoy festive shapes, try Cornflake Christmas Wreaths, no-bake rings shaped by hand and ready in about 35 minutes.
Storage & Reheating
Keep the tree cakes sealed in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or sealed in the freezer for up to 2 months. The filling is butter-based, so keep them chilled, and USDA FSIS advises refrigerating leftovers promptly in covered containers. There is nothing to reheat; let frozen trees soften for a few minutes before serving.
What to Serve With It
Set these trees out with other easy holiday sweets: a big pan of Oreo dirt cake for the kids, a slice of homemade caramel cake for the grown-ups, and a cool strawberry cream cheese icebox cake made a day ahead. For a warm dessert, try a pecan pie dump cake, and fill the cookie tin with carrot cake cookies and cake mix cookie bars in Christmas colours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do my tree cakes fall apart when I dip them?
They are not cold enough. Freeze the filled cake at least 1 hour before you cut it and the cut trees at least 2 more hours before you dip them.
Can I use white chocolate instead of candy melts?
Yes. Melt 24 ounces of white chocolate or almond bark in 20-second bursts and stir in 4 tablespoons of coconut oil or a neutral oil until smooth.
How long do homemade tree cakes keep?
Up to 1 week sealed in the refrigerator, or up to 2 months sealed in the freezer.
How many trees does this make?
About 8 trees with a standard tree cookie cutter, plus some cake scraps.
Final Notes
Give the cut trees the full 2 hours in the freezer; that one wait is what keeps them neat. If you make a batch, tell me in the comments how your trees turned out.
Homemade Christmas Tree Cakes
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Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour for the cake
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature, for the cake
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla for the cake
- 1/2 cup buttermilk room temperature
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature, for the filling
- 1 cup marshmallow fluff
- 3 cups confectioners' sugar for the filling
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract for the filling
- 2 1/2 cups white candy melts for the coating
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil for the coating
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar for the red drizzle
- 1-2 teaspoons water more if needed
- 1-2 drops red food dye
- 1 tablespoon green sugar sprinkles
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350F. Line two quarter sheet pans with parchment and grease lightly with nonstick spray (or use one half sheet pan).
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
- Beat the 1/2 cup butter and the sugar with an electric mixer for 3 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk in turns, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix only until combined, finishing with a spatula.
- Spread the batter evenly in the pans. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the cake no longer jiggles and is just golden at the edges. Cool 5 minutes in the pans, then turn out onto parchment and cool completely. If you used one half sheet, cut it in half the short way.
- Beat the 1 cup butter with the marshmallow fluff until no lumps of butter remain. Slowly beat in the 3 cups confectioners' sugar, then the vanilla extract.
- Set one cake layer on a parchment-lined sheet, spread the filling over it and top with the second layer. Freeze at least 1 hour.
- Cut out trees with the cookie cutter (about 8). Freeze them on the lined sheet at least 2 more hours so they do not fall apart in the coating.
- Stir the 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, water and red food dye until smooth and spoon it into a piping bag.
- Melt the candy melts with the coconut oil in 30-second bursts, stirring between each, until smooth.
- Dip one tree at a time with two forks, let the extra drip off and set it on parchment. After 30 to 45 seconds, before the coating sets, scatter on green sprinkles. Pipe red stripes across each tree.
Notes
Nutrition
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